Cobalt steel magnets?

[belwar]

Hey all,

Does anyone have a source for Cobalt Steel Magnets in any country? I'm also looking for the proper name for this type of magnet .. Is it Iron Chromium Cobalt? Would love any info anyone has on them

[jonson]

cobalt

Had this problem doing a Charlie Christian 30 years ago and difficult to find in the UK then. pleanty of cobalt steel manufacturers now, and then charge it yourself once youv'e made what you want.

[belwar]

Im not looking to do a CC pickup, but rather some fun cool new stuff using the old materials.. Im trying to figure out if the magnet material is "FeCrCo5". I've got a supplier for it, but dont know if that is the right material..

Who are some of the manufactures that you speak of?

[jonson]

some leads

http://www.bsaa.com
http://www.hpalloy.com/alloys/allAlloys.html
tp://www.rockwellind.com/
http://www.metalcutting.com
://www.ulbrich.com/index.php/shop/shop/frmCatID/10/
http://www.murphynolan.com/index.htm
http://www.continentalsteel.com/Prod...duct-index.htm
http://edfagan.rtrk.com/?scid=374720...52Fwww.edfagan...

a quick look bought up these your side of the pond.

[Possum]

...

Jason Lollar knows about cobalt steel with his Rickenbacker horseshoe repro pickups, I think they stopped him from making anymore. check the steel guitar players forums some of them make their own still, no law against that...

[David Schwab]

Im not looking to do a CC pickup, but rather some fun cool new stuff using the old materials.. Im trying to figure out if the magnet material is "FeCrCo5". I've got a supplier for it, but dont know if that is the right material..

Who are some of the manufactures that you speak of?

All I could find was that cobalt was added to tungsten steel to make it more magnetic. Cobalt steel is "CoFe".

Does anyone even make it anymore?

[Possum]

...

Apparently someone did, Jason was able to get it and like I said search the steel guitar posts, there are some guys making this stuff out there somewhere...

[soundmasterg]

I don't think Rickenbacker stopped Jason from making them Possum....they did get it trademarked, but the guy who granted the trademark didn't really do the research.....they stopped making a real one with magnetized horsehoes in 1968, and only tried to trademark it once they saw Jasons.

[David Schwab]

Rick Turner makes horseshoe pickups. I'm not sure what the details might be as far as any agreement with Rickenbacker, but I just can't see that being the case.

He even calls it "the Turner "Rick" double-horseshoe pickup".

The "Rick" pickup is the heart of the Model T sound. They look and sound like the earliest magnetic pickups created for lap steel guitars. Modern materials and precision manufacturing have given the design new reliability while retaining the original crying tone.

Renaissance Model T


He says they use alnico magnets, so I guess the shoes aren't cobalt-steel magnets like the originals. I think cobalt-steel magnets have a problem with holding their charge?

[belwar]

If this is the right stuff I just have to figure out what the vintage formula would be.. I found this chart of the FrCrCo magnets and the sampl,es i've got coming are FeCrCo5 which looks to be too powerful.. Even more that A5

ISOTROPY
FeCrCo1 8800 460 1.6
FeCrCo2 9900 350 1.6
FeCrCo 10500 200 1.0

ANISOTROPY
FeCrCo5 13500 600 5.25
FeCrCo 14000 250 2.0

[David King]

Belwar,
Is this stuff crazy expensive? I'd be up for checking it out if you don't find it useful.

[belwar]

Belwar,
Is this stuff crazy expensive? I'd be up for checking it out if you don't find it useful.

The FeCrCo5 is triple the cost of a good A5 bar.

[LtKojak]

The FeCrCo5 is triple the cost of a good A5 bar.

If the price of a good A5 bar magnet to the public is five bucks, the cost price must be aroung three, so three times that shouldn't add that much to the final cost of the p'up... materials is not the problem, but the labor and the research time involved in making it, not to mention prototyping!

Making p'ups is hard work, folks. And it's not always paying off... I admire you all making a living out of it. I really do.

[soundmasterg]

Rick Turner makes horseshoe pickups. I'm not sure what the details might be as far as any agreement with Rickenbacker, but I just can't see that being the case.

He even calls it "the Turner "Rick" double-horseshoe pickup".





Renaissance Model T


He says they use alnico magnets, so I guess the shoes aren't cobalt-steel magnets like the originals. I think cobalt-steel magnets have a problem with holding their charge?

Ya there are lots of stories of guys recharging their cobalt shoes on the RIC horseshoes from the 60's by sticking them to a powerful speaker magnet overnight, or using some welder electromagnet or something.

I'm not sure how Turner gets around Rickenbacker....maybe its because he targets the lapsteel crowd, which RIC doesn't do? I have no idea....

Greg

[David Schwab]

If the price of a good A5 bar magnet to the public is five bucks...

Five bucks? That's too high. What pickup makers buy magnets at retail prices?